What adds to the Pul's historical relevance is that this was the bridge Gandhi strode across in his familiar quick gait when he left the ashram for the last time on March 12, 1930, as he had pledged that he would not return there till Independence was achieved.

But that piece of history seems to have been forgotten. Today, the bridge, almost hidden by the overgrowth, is barely visible from Ashram Road as busloads of tourists pass it by on their way to the sprawling Gandhi Ashram. Yet almost every year, when the anniversary of the Dandi march comes by, it is spruced up and cleared of the mess to facilitate the visit of VIPs. ``This year, too, the area was cleaned up and the neighbouring wall white-washed as local leaders and freedom fighters wanted to re-enact the march. Tar was put on the bridge and sand sprinkled on it to make it look more natural,'' says architect Yatin Pandya, associate director of the Vastu Shilpa Foundation, who submitted a plan for the development of the Sabarmati Ashram way back in 1983.

But things were back to normal -- turds and all -- once the event was over.

Years of neglect have taken their toll. A portion of the bridge's surface has caved in despite the fact that it was closed to traffic in 1970 and barricaded from both ends two years ago. Jhuggi-dwellers residing on the bank of the Sabarmati use the space under the bridge as a garbage dump. The lower portions of the metal pipes on which the bridge rests have rusted. ``It is bound to collapse if the AMC continues to neglect it,'' warns Pandya.

Naturally, Gandhians are not amused. ``The pathetic state of the historic monument shows that we are no longer aware of what Gandhi meant to all of us. Yet, it cannot be seen in isolation because negligence is a general trait as far as our society is concerned,'' says noted Gandhian Prakash Shah.

According to Amrutbhai Mody, Gandhi Ashram secretary, the condition of the bridge is ``a burning example'' of how our heritage and civilisation have become victims of urbanisation. ``There was a time when sparkling water used to gush down the Sabarmati and Chandrabhaga,'' Mody recalls. Now, both are streams of liquid waste generated by the city and chemical industry.

The same, says Mody, goes for the Dandi bridge. After it was closed by AMC, jhuggi dwellers started defecating there. ``It was in 1997 when the country was celebrating the golden jubilee of its Independence that the then Municipal Commissioner Keshav Verma got the bridge barricaded to ensure that it was not spoiled,'' Mody recalls.

Ironically, since then, the bridge lies completely forgotten. ``A historic monument of such great importance is lying neglected because the indifference to our heritage runs in our blood,'' says Prof Jayant Pandya, another Gandhian. Pandya says there is an immediate need to bring the bridge to the notice of the authorities, because ``the preservation of the monument is not a duty of Gandhian institutions.'' Besides, it does not belong to the ashram which, in any case, is struggling to make ends meet.

Gandhian Ishwarbhai Patel, who runs a `Safai Vidyalaya' in Ahmedabad, says that some time ago he, together with 10 NGOs, had set up a number of toilets for jhuggi-dwellers. ``I also wrote to the AMC authorities requesting them to set up more toilets around the bridge area but my letter elicited no response'', he says, confessing that he could not pursue the project further because his efforts to collect money proved to be in vain. ``Big businessmen have no interest in such things'', he says.

Closed in 1970
The Dandi bridge was closed by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in 1970 because it had become unsafe for traffic after Ashram Road was widened, says Sabarmati Ashram secretary Amrutbhai Mody. According to senior AMC officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the bridge is redundant and obsolete and would have been destroyed had it not been for its historical importance. Moreover, since the bridge is not yet a 100 years old, it does not fit the government's description of antique. It was closed after the new Majmudar Bridge was constructed.

``It is spruced up once a year when the anniversary of the Dandi march is celebrated. The rest of the time, it is used by neighbouring slum-dwellers for defecating. And frankly speaking, if this annual cleaning was also not being done, it would have turned into a garbage dump by now,'' says an official. According to Municipal Commissioner K Kailashnathan, a facelift is not on the immediate plans of the AMC, though the matter is being studied by an in-house committee.

Bridging the gap
All is not lost, feels Yatin Pandya, associate director of the Vastu Shilpa Foundation. He has the following suggestions to make regarding the bridge so that it can become a tourist attraction. The changes will cost around Rs 5 lakh, he says.